Prevalence of Frailty among Older Surgical Patients

Abstract

The increase of hospital admissions for surgical interventions in subjects aged 65 years and older has raised interest among surgeons about the concept of frailty. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of frailty in a sample of older patients admitted to the surgical departments. Frailty was defined using the model proposed by Robinson and colleagues that reflects the number of deficits an individual has accrued across different domains like gait speed and muscular strength, chronic anemia, comorbidity, cognitive impairments, ability to perform activity of daily living, malnutrition, geriatric syndrome of falls. Results show a high prevalence of frailty (19%) and pre-frailty (34%) in the studied population. Physical impairment (54%), comorbidity burden (29%), cognitive dysfunction (32%) and dependence in Activities of Daily Living (28%) largely characterized the frailty phenotype of our sample. Given its complexity and heterogeneity, a multidisciplinary and integrated care approach is necessary for designing a personalized plan of intervention. This will avoid wasting the benefits brought by the surgical intervention because of a poor supporting network.